A/N: Hey everyone! Been a long time since I posted anything here T_T I'm sorry for waiting so long, I had a short phase where I thought (most probably like every amateur writer's at one point or another) that nobody reads my stories anymore so I focused on university and my internship. Well, I found inspiration again and decided to finally update :)

ANSWERS TO REVIEWS:

Ultros the Octopus: Thank you, you're too kind! :) (waves two tentacle arms happily back) ^_^

Pikku-Prinsessa: Thank you for your lovely review, I finally decided to update after seeing that some people still do read my Zifa stories :)

Enjoy! ~

Nightmare

Nightmares weren't anything new to him, they had become something of a cautious companion ever since he left his home in Gongaga.

Since joining SOLDIER, they had become worse.

Something akin to deadly assassins lurking in every shadowy corner and waiting for the opportunity until he fell asleep to strike. And strike they did.

He never expected to escape from SOLDIER unscarred, physically and emotionally. It was just the nature of the job. He killed people, he suspected he had killed innocents too and worked for a corrupt company that had betrayed him in the end.

He may have escaped SOLDIER physically, but at night, his mind still went there involuntarily.

Still went to the terrified faces of people that had a contract on their heads, still went to the beginning, innocent days where he was still just a rookie and had looked up to the three legendary SOLDIER Firsts until much later in his young SOLDIER carrier, he realized the gruesome truth behind Shinra.

It still went to Nibelheim.

While not being his hometown, it had still scarred him deeply. The events there were what set off a chain reaction to every subsequent events that followed after the massacre.

Sephiroth succumbing to madness, Genesis dying, Cloud and him being captured by Hojo, Cloud falling into mako poisoning, escaping from Shinra and nearly being gunned down by his very own former comrades, people he used to share casual jokes with over some hot chocolate or juice after a tiring training session in the barracks.

He rubbed at his eyes, peeling away the hardened crust gathered at the corners of his eyes after a night of fitful sleep.

He felt gentle hands soothingly caress the bare skin of his chest and then he felt equally gentle and soft lips tenderly kiss his chest and cheek.

Glowing mako eyes turned to the woman next to him, managing to just see her face thanks to his enhanced eye sight.

She was a vision of black and white, her brown hair appearing black in the dead of the night, but the soft moonlight illuminated her pale yet beautiful features and bathed her in an ethereal glow and suddenly, he really thought, like many times before, that she truly had been an angel that had saved him from certain doom.

It hadn't been a coincidence either that she lived and ran a bar called Seventh Heaven.

Heh.

She didn't say anything for a while, opting to calm him down by running methodical, gentle motions with her hand on his chest and shoulders, muscles tense from his nightmare relaxing under her touch and sagging against the comforting softness of the mattress beneath him.

At last, she quietly spoke, "Another nightmare?"

Zack nodded mutely, not quite trusting his voice yet.

Despite it not being the first or last nightmare, he still had some difficulties talking about them.

Zack was an open guy, a happy-go-lucky type, but sometimes, in the solitude of his own thoughts, the dark corners of his mind that contained everything with Shinra resurfaced and threatened to consume him.

A light tap on his chest ripped him from his thoughts and he met the understanding but firm gaze of his wife, "I'm here," she said simply, her hand trailing from his chest and finding his hand, squeezing it tightly.

Not even a moment later, he squeezed hers back, moving over to rest on his side and face her.

His knuckles gently grazed the side of her soft cheek, the silky texture of her hair, before it traced the beginning of the scar above her breast.

Zack drew his hand back but Tifa resolutely allowed his fingers to tentatively touch the rough surface of the scar, a grim reminder of Masamune.

His gaze darkened but her touch brought him back, again, she grabbed his chin and turned it towards her, "I'm here,"

Reading her expression, he understood, and he lifted one arm and smiled when she immediately scooted closer to him and turned her back to his chest, placing her own arm on top of his that rested on her waist.

He smelled the faint fragrance of her shampoo, he thought it to be some sort of exotic flower, and buried his face against the softness, tightening his grip reflexively around her.

Tifa sighed and her fingers entangled with his own, "…Hojo?"

Zack replied quietly, a low whisper into her hair, "Nibelheim,"

He felt her grip twitch slightly, one could mistake it for a reflexive twitch of her fingers, but Zack knew better.

"The battle with Sephiroth or…?"

"Everything," his grip tightened, "And then some," she hummed, a sound of understanding. Of course, she understood, if anyone then her and Cloud.

"Pancakes with ice cream and hot chocolate?" her question was met with a small smirk.

"…You know me too well, Lockhart," Zack's muffled answer was met with an eye roll from Tifa.

"Fair," she corrected with a soft push of her elbow and Zack couldn't help but chuckle and agree with her.

His grip around her tightened protectively before he allowed her to slip out of his arms, dragging him up with her. She had the strength to even give Cloud and him a hard time in battle, it was no problem for her hauling up a grown man despite her sleepy state.

Following her lead down the kitchen, he went about taking out all the kitchen utensils they would need for the pancake making. Groggily, eyes still trying to adjust to the dim lighting of the kitchen, Zack blindly reached for a cooking apron and grimaced when he found it to be a bit too tight on the shoulders and chest and…well everywhere really.

He snorted when he noticed the picture on the front, "Is this Cloud's?" his brow shot to his hairline at the yellow choccobo with a chef's hat on top of its feathery head, a speech bubble saying, 'Cook Chocco!'

An amused giggle made him look up at the owner of the bar, "He never wore it but Denzel did occasionally. In the end, we found out it was too small for him so sometimes Denzel or I would wear it while cooking," she shrugged, eyes twinkling in amusement at her husband's ridiculous attire.

Zack sighed, "Well…at least I still have some of my dignity," the second he spoke the words, he realized why Tifa was watching him with increasingly more amusement, "Don't tell me…"

She nodded and giggled, shaking her head.

Zack's shoulders slumped when he realized with what sort of boxer she went to sleep in that night. It were ones he swore his mother would have bought for him and yet he distinctively remembered Marlene choosing them when they went out shopping once, telling him that they needed more 'cuteness' in the house.

And these boxers were cuteness overload. Yellow choccobo chicks running on a dark red background, to where Zack didn't know, all he knew was that their destination wasn't where his dignity currently crawled off to.

He smiled when Tifa patted his cheek and offered him a short but sweet kiss on the lips, immediately brightening his mood, "So, how about those pancakes, hm?"

Zack's gaze was dreamy, "What pancakes?"

And he swore, her laughter was what chased all his demons away.

Even demons like Hojo, Sephiroth and Shinra.

Even his own thoughts.

Thank you for reading! Suggestions are always welcome and reviews always boost my inspirational streaks! :)